A medium scale rice farmer in Taraba state, Mallam Hussaini Baba, has revealed that more small and medium scale rice farmers in Taraba State are becoming millionaires.
He told Daily Trust in an interview that the Federal government’s Anchor Borrowers Scheme and ban on importation of foreign rice had enabled farmers to get value for their produce.
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He said the demand for local rice and interest free loan given to rice farmers under Federal government rice farming programme had attracted more farmers to grow rice during wet and dry season in the state.
Hussaini Baba explained that the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) had also encouraged rice farmers to embark on large scale farming to make the state a leading rice producer in the country.
He said he started as a small scale farmer 15 years ago but now a medium scale rice farmer, producing 350 bags of paddy of rice during the wet season and almost same quantity during the dry season.
According to him, the rice farmers Association, which he is a member, has paved ways for him and other farmers to benefits from the Anchor Borrowers Scheme introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria for rice farmers.
He said the price of 100kg bag of paddy rice was N5000 before but with ban on importation of foreign rice, the price jumped to between N15,000 and N20,000.
Baba stated that many small scale farmers have made millions of naira from sale of paddy rice.
